SRCDS slowly dies... Help?

[wendestam]

Hi,

I have a really nasty problem. I can't get srcds running at my Windows Server 2003 (Std.Ed.) machine.
It contains:
AMD X2 4600+ 2.4Ghz 512kb/core L2
2GB DDR2 pc5400 4-4-4-12
3x500GB Western Digital 16MB SATA2 drives
MSI K9AGM3-FD mainboard -> http://global.msi.eu/index.php?func=proddesc&maincat_no=1&cat2_no=171&prod_no=1580

The problem is that when I start the srcds.exe everything runs fine for like 1 minutes, and you can play and it runs smooth and it feels responsive with a tick around 70-80 (should i get a better tick?). I'm also running srcdsfpsboost.exe and the srcds-console shows a quite steady 512.0 fps. But after a minute or so it starts to lag a little, and it's getting worse, and quite soon it's unplayable. If you're lucky you'll have the honor to stay online for like 4 minutes without lagging out.

This is happening both when the server is behind NAT and when it's not. This is also happening when i deactivate my internetconnection and just run the server on LAN. I think I've tried everything, I even bought a new Intel Pro NIC to replace the lame Realtek integrated NIC. It didn't help.
So I don't think it's network related. I've changed the CPU affinity to 1, 2 and 1+2. It does run smoother with only one CPU but that doesn't help the frickin lag.
The thing is that the SRCDS is still responding as a Windows process, but it slowly stops responding to any commands at all.

Does anyone have a theory about this problem that they might want to share? I would be VERY greatful!

[Beaverbeliever]

Are you playing and hosting the server on the same computer?

[Spartanfrog]

Try runny verify_all in hldsupdatetool to make sure necessary files are there.

[wendestam]

Beaverbeliever Wrote:Are you playing and hosting the server on the same computer?

No, I've tested the server via local network (WiFi .n, 100mbit Cat5 and 1000Mbit Cat6) and through the internet from an other city and also just a few blocks from the server. I also tried with and without a D-link DIR-655 router, directly connected with both 100mbit and 1gbit connection to the servers other NIC.

[wendestam]

Spartanfrog Wrote:Try runny verify_all in hldsupdatetool to make sure necessary files are there.

Done that. Also downloaded a clean and new copy of the css-server with a brand new hldsupdatetool. Still the same problem.

I'm thinking maybe it's a hardware problem?
But everything else is just running really smooth and fine. I've tried DNS, DHCP, Active Directory, FTP, Webserver, just to check the servers capability. The integrated GPU is working quite well too. It's just that srcds won't work, the only reason I bought this stupid machine.

[Spartanfrog]

If it is possible, try reinstalling necessary drivers or better yet, if possible, reinstall the entire operating system.

[wendestam]

Spartanfrog Wrote:If it is possible, try reinstalling necessary drivers or better yet, if possible, reinstall the entire operating system.

Done that, but it didn't help. The same thing happened while running WinXP Pro.

[assmunk]

what are your bandwidth rates? I'm thinking that might be the problem

[Doggie52]

Perhaps it's something with your config files? Have you had a look into them, and checked the rates for anything weird?

I would say it's an OS problem, but since you've tried that then I don't know. If you have spare parts somewhere try switching one part out at a time and see if it solves anything. Have you overclocked your CPU or memory ?